U.S. slalom specialist Mikaela Shiffrin won the slalom race at Crans-Montana in Switzerland on Monday. Her two flawless runs put her ahead of the pack by nearly half a second, accoridng to ESPN. Natasia Noens of France came in second, and Canadian skier Marie-Michele Gagnon placed third.
Shiffrin tore a ligament in her knee and received a bad bone bruise during a training run crash in Sweden in December. Off the snow for two months, she put on skis again only two weeks ago.
"I'm feeling good, a little tired from traveling, but good," Shiffrin said on Friday, according to the Associated Press. "I trained with some of the German girls today and just being able to train with other girls feels so good. I've been training on my own so just to be back with the girls now feels like I'm already back in the thick of it."
Shiffrin did not expect to race again until as late as March 6 at the race in Jasna Slovakia. Because the slalom race at Maribor was cancelled in January, it was rescheduled for Monday, allowing Shiffrin to return earlier than expected.
The American skier excels in the slalom discipline. At 20, she won two slalom races in Aspen by ample margins, this year by big margins. In terms of races that Shiffrin has competed in, her winning streak totals six, reaching back into last season.
Conditions looked to be challenging Sunday evening. Over Friday night, between between 30-35 inches of snow fell at Crans-Montana, according to the News Observer. The downhill race was rescheduled for Sunday, and then cancelled. The combined event was cancelled and will not be rescheduled this season.
For hopeful competitors this meant a powder day. "Too much snow, race cancelled/postponed until tomorrow. Going to go POWDER skiing !!!" skiier Lindsey Vonn said on Twitter.
